Live coverage: Giannis Antetokounmpo picks Damian Lillard first in all-star draft
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Giannis Antetokounmpo plans to pick Jrue Holiday for his all-star team
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SALT LAKE CITY – Giannis Antetokounmpo had his right wrist and hand re-evaluated again on Sunday morning, but there was little doubt the Milwaukee Bucks superstar was going to – in some capacity – participate in the all-star game at Vivint Arena. He took a lot of pride in being voted in by the fans as a captain across from LeBron James, so it wasn’t a surprise that he appeared on stage for the player draft with his wrist and hand wrapped up.
“Whatever I have, I’m going to give,” he said on the broadcast before the game. “That’s who I am. That’s never going to change.”
Despite suffering a sprained wrist on Feb. 16 in Chicago, Antetokounmpo tried to soak in as much of the all-star experience as possible. He coached in the celebrity game on Friday with his brothers Thanasis and Alex, and the rest of his family was in attendance as well. He didn’t participate in the skills challenge on Saturday night due to the injury, but still got in uniform for the event and then hung out to take in the three-point and slam dunk contests.
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Antetokounmpo’s hand was evaluated throughout the weekend and he had still experienced pain and swelling, but he started the game Sunday. Ja Morant won the opening tip and Antetokounmpo set the halfcourt offense up with his left hand. He went baseline and softly dunked with two hands and then committed a foul.
Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla subbed Antetokounmpo out for Bam Adebayo and that was the end of the Bucks star’s evening as a player after 20 seconds.
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The league changed up the format of team selections for this year, with captains Antetokounmpo and LeBron James picking their teams on the court prior to the game. Antetokounmpo brought a notebook onto the stage to make his picks, saying “I put a lot of thought behind it.”
He then selected Portland guard Damian Lillard No. 1 overall, shocking James.
Antetokounmpo then followed it up by picking Bucks teammate Jrue Holiday. Antetokounmpo got the crowd roaring when he tried to sneak starter Ja Morant onto his team — but starters were not being selected at that point — and Antetokounmpo sheepishly took Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Here is the rest of Antetokounmpo’s team:
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Live coverage: Giannis Antetokounmpo scores first basket, then is taken out of All-Star Game